BRENTWOOD, CA

I am very lucky to be spending Los Angeles time in a lovely area called Brentwood.

Strategically wedged in between Bel Air/Beverly Hills to the immediate east and the famous beachfront of Santa Monica about 7 miles to the south, it's a wealthy area.

It is at the invitation of one Charles Peruchini that has afforded me this opportunity and of course it has been a huge advantage to have a base in L.A from which to ready myself and my equipment for the long road ahead.

Charles was a member of one of my APT Kimberley touring parties in 2015. 

A rare American in that part of the world, he made a point of remembering a planned trip to the U.S and Canada that I had discussed throughout the tour.

With time approaching, Charles got back in touch in late January 2016 for the reason of making good on an offer he had made to put me up if ever I came to Los Angeles.

It was a good enough offer for me and I accepted without hesitation, leaving one less thing to do in preparation.

Charles had also arranged in advance to pick me up from LAX on arrival on Friday so I couldn't have really prescribed a more user-friendly start to this trip.

The Peruchinis (that's Charles and his wife Joellyn) reside at the top of Kenter Canyon at the very back of suburban Brentwood, directly overlooking the Canyon itself, with panoramic views of the nearby Getty Center, 4200 ft Mount Baldy (a.k.a Mt San Antonio, which is the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains) and downtown L.A in the near-distance.

Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas is a near neighbour.

The villa where O.J Simpson never really murdered his ex-wife and her lover is just down at the bottom of the hill.

There is also a spectacular, calorie-killing fire trail running beyond the top end of Nth Kenter Avenue and into the adjacent section of wilderness park where rabbits, coyotes and various birds of prey have formerly inhabited, these days replaced more frequently by mountain bikers, hikers and professional dog-walkers.

Numerous sections of the trail offer immediate views of both Kenter and Mandeville Canyons - one on either side - and equally killer vistas in all other directions, from the L.A downtown area to the south-east, the Pacific Coastline and Santa Catalina Island to the east and south as well as the San Gabriels and San Fernando Valley to the north.

Mandeville Canyon is another, little known enclave of L.A's uber-wealthy - one of its most recent arrivals is Shawn Corey Carter a.k.a "Jay-Z" who is currently making extensions to his modest 39-bedroom cubby-house in the canyon, which I guess one can do when you're worth about half-a-billion....

Frequent visitors also to the Peruchini's top deck are myriad hummingbirds which come flitting in like over-sized insects to water themselves out of Charles' hummingbird bath.

                       
                    L.A PANORAMA FROM THE TOP OF NTH KENTER AVENUE

MANDEVILLE CANYON AS SEEN FROM THE KENTER FIRE TRAIL

JAY-Z'S CANYON CUBBY-HOUSE (CENTER-LEFT)

KENTER AVENUE, BRENTWOOD

SUNDAY SUNRISE FROM CHARLES' BALCONY

MOUNTAIN GATE ESTATE & SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

 SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAIN VISTA

DOWNTOWN L.A & GETTY CENTER @ NIGHT

Aside from the mandatory preparations of my equipment, Charles has dutifully run me about town in the Prius during the day as I stock up on various items - some to do with the bike and some not.

Evenings have seen us sample the very best of cuisines from around the Brentwood and West L.A areas.

Pizzicoto on Friday evening was a low key family-run shopfront serving super-scrummy and authentic Italian fare with a number of house specialties on offer. This little black duck went for the zuppa of the day (tomato/eggplant) followed by Ravioli di Spinach. Home-made pasta and all....9/10....

Javan on Santa Monica Boulevarde was our Saturday night booking. 

From the moment Charles had mentioned "Persian" when picking me up on Friday morning, I was totally up for it. 

I am a complete sucker for any version of middle-eastern cuisine on offer and since I am planning a trip to Iran in the next couple of years, I might as well start versing myself up now.

The menu at Javan describes itself as "Fine Persian Cuisine" and this was more than good enough for me.

My selection was once more a specialty dish named Fesenjan - "Sauteed walnuts in pomegranate sauce, served with chicken and side of Basmati rice". 

9/10.

And finally to Sunday evening and probably the most authentic and enjoyable of all Charles' restaurant selections over the past 3 days - Lares Mexican in Pico Boulevarde, Santa Monica.

"Longtime for Mexican and Mariachi"  as described on Google Maps, provided all of the above.

I liked the atmosphere very much and the food even better. I simply couldn't ignore the house specialties this time either, going for the "Camarones a la Diabla" (shrimp wrapped in bacon and dipped in our own special sauce (very spicy), served with rice & boiled beans.)

9.5/10.

THE BREAKFAST CLUB

A gathering is held each Saturday and Sunday morning in a comfortable Kenter Canyon home off Hanley Avenue.

It is the home of a local woman named Marlene who turns on a breakfast spread for the ages.

Almost all of it is home-made by Marlene herself and ranges from porridge to fruit salads as well as a host of hot dishes which could include anything from vegetarian selections to pasta bakes or even curries. 

The feast attracts a bunch of locals and blow-ins such as myself on a regular basis who get together (most often after a ritual 2-hour hike along the aforementioned Kenter fire trail) and catch up on all or everything, including in-depth analyses of why on earth a 44-year-old man-child traveller from Australia would consider riding solo by recumbent bicycle up the west coast of the United States and Canada.

To be fair, the subject has attracted quite a deal of interest from people over the past few days and of course I am hugely appreciative of the input many of those people have had.

I look forward to taking advantage of some of the knowledgeable advice and tips I have received from these good people as I indulge my adventure over the next 3 months....

I SAW FONZIE BUYING A BICYCLE!!

 A place I have frequented on numerous occasions over the past days has been Helen's Cycles on Broadway in Santa Monica.

Various extras and repairs have been required for my upcoming departure and I found myself in there again today attending to tyre-sliming, helmet cams and a whole lot of waiting around.

Helen's were particularly busy today on a Sunday and my bicycle was in a queue in the service department that didn't end up clearing for about 2 hours.

During the lengthy delay, Charles happened to draw my attention to a customer who had just entered the shop with his family.

"Hey Vaughan," Charles whispered. "See that grey-haired fella over there with the camera.."

"Yep.."

"That's the Fonz!!"

And sure enough it was.

Mr Henry Winkler OBE was in attendance with his family entourage, all for the purpose of purchasing a bicycle for his young grand-son who ended up scoring what grand-dad had set out to get him.... the orange and black Trek with training wheels!!

"HEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY........."

Next report from the road......